Killsaws

Killsaws
Type	Damaging
Seasons	Long Beach 1999 Las Vegas 1999 Season 1.0 - 5.0 Various BattleBots IQ events 2009 Pro Championship 2009 High School Championship 2009 Collegiate Championship World Championship I - Present

The Killsaws, also spelt Kill Saws, are sets of rotating circular saws which rise from slits in the arena floor to attack the underside of robots. They have been present since the earliest 1999 BattleBots events and remain part of the BattleBox in the current show.

Their purpose is to target the underneath of robots, which often have considerably thinner armor than anywhere else. For the Las Vegas and Long Beach events in 1999, a single set of three 18" diameter, carbide-tipped blades were housed beneath the BattleBox and protected by a Lexan panel. For the Las Vegas event, these were outlined in yellow and black warning tape.

Ziggo and Beta Raptor both feel the effects of the killsaws.

Several pairs of circular saws would later be fitted to the arena ahead of Season 1.0. A camera was even mounted within the underside of the hazard to give a unique perspective of their functionality. The saws were swapped out after this season for ones with a smaller diameter, but larger teeth to increase their bite.

In Season 3.0, the saws were changed again, smaller than before but with fewer teeth this time. However, in the case of lightweights especially, the killsaws had another function as were powerful enough to fling robots across the BattleBox and even flip them over on occasion. As was the case with other hazards, they were controlled by Peter Lambertson during the Comedy Central era of BattleBots. In later seasons, some killsaws were outlined in yellow whereas others were outlined in red.

Killsaws with a yellow outline during Season 4.0.

With the show's cancelation after Season 5.0, only the Pulverizers were carried over to events sanctioned by the BattleBots name that followed, until 2009. Ahead of the Pro and Collegiate competitions, the killsaws returned and were red in color, with red and blue outlines denoting their presence in the BattleBox. They would remain largely absent from BattleBots IQ events, but did appear sporadically.

The killsaws returned with BattleBots in 2015, and were more abundant in the arena than ever before. They were only active for the final minute of any given match in order to promote more action between the competing robots, so saw comparatively less use than in seasons prior.

Ahead of the 2018 competition, the killsaws were outlined in yellow to make them clearer to drivers in an attempt to prevent robots accidentally driving over them. They were activated more often, in a sequential pattern as opposed to simply rising as a robot got too close to the saws. They have remained ever-present in every season to date, even as the BattleBox floor was rebuilt ahead of World Championship V.

For World Championship VI, the killsaw slots were widened to allow for more space for sparks to be shot out during Main Event announcements. Lexan covers were added to try and counter this change, but resulted in robots with particularly low wedges or forks becoming caught on the covers if in the slot themselves. The hazard went unchanged for World Championship VII.

The evolution of the killsaw blades during the early years of BattleBots.

"Kill Saw Cam" during Season 1.0 of Comedy Central BattleBots.

Crewbot Richie activating the killsaws beneath the BattleBox.

Notable Uses

Voltarc uses the killsaws to dictate its quarter-final match.

BioHazard vs. Voltarc

In the Season 1.0 heavyweight quarter-final match between Voltarc and BioHazard, Voltarc took advantage of rules not yet prohibiting pinning against arena hazards and held BioHazard above the killsaws for much of the battle. With no way to retaliate, Voltarc won the inevitable judges' decision in one of BioHazard's few career losses.

Toe-Crusher vs. Evil Fish Tank

Toe-Crusher is thrown by the killsaws.

During Season 2.0's lightweight quarter-final fight which saw Evil Fish Tank take on Toe-Crusher, both robots were victim to the killsaws, but not in the traditional way. Due to how light the robots were, the killsaws were able to fling these robots up in the air and across the BattleBox. Evil Fish Tank purposely used the BattleBox hazard in an attempt to flip themselves back upright, but were unsuccessful. Toe-Crusher found itself juggled by the killsaws too, though not intentionally, at points during the battle. The chaotic nature of this battle convinced the editing team at the time to produce a compilation of killsaw shots to the sound of "An der schönen, blauen Donau", by Austrian composer Johann Strauss II. This video was reuploaded to YouTube in November 2020.

Petunia holds ROTATOR above the killsaws.

Petunia vs. ROTATOR

In the World Championship III battle between ROTATOR and Petunia, the Dutch crusher was able to get a hold of ROTATOR and take it to the killsaws. Using precise driving in the last minute of the fight, one of ROTATOR's tires was shredded by the killsaws earning valuable points in Petunia's favor as the fight drew to a close.

Killsaw Slots

Diesector's pickaxe head is stuck in the slot.

As a result of the killsaws being housed underneath the BattleBox, when inactive, this left long, narrow gaps in the floor which could disrupt or outright disable opponents. Though rare, a notable example of this during the Season 2.0 superheavyweight final, when Diesector's hammer became stuck in the slot. Donald Hutson's superheavyweight was only able to become free once the saw had cut deep enough for the head to snap off. Irrespective of this, Diesector overcame Atomic Wedgie to become superheavyweight champion for the first time.

Lock-Jaw smoking and stuck in the killsaw slot during the 2019 season.

Donald Hutson would become a victim of the slots in the reboot era too with Lock-Jaw, who often found itself being abruptly stopped by the gaps in the arena floor. As forks became more prevalent in order to win the ground game, the slots which housed each saw became a hazard in and of itself, providing opportunities for forks to become lodged in the slots as robots drove over the killsaws even when they were not yet active in the fight. However, this rarely determined a battle as opponents were either able to escape or were freed by other means.

In order to accommodate sparks into the killsaws for the display which proceeded the first battle of an episode and also the Main Event, the killsaw gaps had to be slightly widened. This worsened the issue, as forks which were wider than the old killsaw slots were now narrow enough to fall victim to this inadvertent additional hazard.

During Shatter!'s World Championship VI Fight Night battle against Blacksmith, Shatter! became snagged in the killsaw slots several times, which allowed Blacksmith to dictate parts of the fight and earn valuable control points against Bots FC's machine.

Deep Six is jammed in the killsaw slot, and eventually counted out.

In the case of Deep Six vs. SMEEEEEEEEEEEEE, the killsaw slot practically decided the fight as Deep Six's stabilizer became caught in the gap and lifted its wheels off the ground as a result. As this occurred within the opening minute of the battle, the saws could not raise to try and free Team Overboard's robot. It was counted out as a result, and SMEEEEEEEEEEEEE took a surprise victory in a Fight Night battle which was ultimately relegated to being a YouTube exclusive. In response, Team Overboard added feet to their stabilizers to prevent the same issue happening again.

Another example of killsaw slots playing a big part in a World Championship VI fight came during Tombstone's encounter with Mammoth. After a hit from Tombstone tore one of Mammoth's wheels away, Hardcore Robotics' machine deflected into the path of the killsaws and the nut at the base of its weapon shaft fell into the slot. Neither robot was able to show sufficient mobility. A simultaneous knockout was declared, but Tombstone was given the judges' decision.

End Game immediately becomes stuck in the slot.

In End Game's second Fight Night battle against RIPperoni, the former Giant Nut winner drove immediately into the killsaws and got its long hinged fork buried within the slot. Unable to move, RIPperoni could have awaited a count-out similar to the Deep Six incident above, but instead opted to free End Game and continue the fight. The hit which freed End Game caused serious damage to their frame, and RIPperoni eventually got the win by knockout.

Reception

Though builders were not overly critical of the hazard for much of its existence, the wider killsaw slots ahead of World Championship VI created much debate and controversy between fans and builders alike. According to multiple builders, teams were not informed of the larger slots prior to filming.

Appearances in Merchandise

• BattleBots Arena MAX
• BattleBots Arena Pro
• HEXBUG BattleBots Arena
• BattleBox/BattleBots Video Game (canceled)
• BattleBox/BattleBots: Beyond the BattleBox
• BattleBots/Kickbot Arena Game
• BattleBots BattleBox (Toy)

Outside BattleBots

Chinese show King of Bots introduced a very similar hazard into their arena, with rows of four circular saws housed within the floor. The blades were positioned further apart than in BattleBots and though they were also marked with yellow borders in Season 1, this was changed to blue for This is Fighting Robots and Season 2 of King of Bots.

Spectre holds Boxing Champion over the saws during King of Bots.

Trivia

• The original killsaws were manufactured by SystiMatic, and several were used by Trey Roski on various builds of Ginsu.
• In Season 3.0, a middleweight robot was built to pay homage to the hazard, named Portable Killsaw.
• The Comedy Central era killsaws appear prominently in the title card for "BattleBots Productions" shown at the end of televised episodes, even into the current reboot era on ABC and Discovery.